Monday, 29 February 2016

With the (quintessentially 90s) trend of the logo-as-statement-feature reborn in 2016, its latest incarnation has left plenty of inspiration for DIY projects in the quirky new label designs. Kenzo's cactus clutch was no exception, so, with my appetite for craft well and truly whetted, I found myself reaching for my fabric paint drawer.

Inspiration

You will need...

Metallic clutch

Black 3D fabric paint

Pink and white fabric paint

Wide-tipped paint brush

Masking tape

Difficulty

Hard to gauge; it depends on what it is you're painting (mine was quite fiddly) and how dexterous you are with fabric paint. One thing I will say is that this is a straightforward project without any challenging surprises.

Time

Doable in an hour.

Blooming genius

Decide where you want to paint your design and stick strips of masking tape around the designated area, ensuring they are parallel by aligning them with the edges.

In my logo design, I painted the white lettering by pinching the brush, so the bristles were flattened and could paint a petal-like shape. I painted the pink blossoms normally.

The black parts were done with 3D fabric paint, using thin slivers of paint and spreading them as sparingly as possible with the tip of the nozzle.

Thursday, 25 February 2016

With London Fashion week well under way, the trend to inspire me the most so far has been the stripe trend, seen in vertical slashed form at JW Anderson and with contrasting appliqué of ribbon and lace at Christopher Kane. With this trend for adding a new dimension to the humble stripe, it was the former that I felt lent itself more to DIY, particularly with eyelet detailing being bang on trend already. This venetian-blind-reminiscent look is easy to replicate and adds a rebellious, punky edge to outfits for any occasion.

Thursday, 18 February 2016

With denim doing the rounds once again in trend town, the statement piece du jour is - predictably - a pair of jeans. Leaving aside the essay I could write (and that many before me have written) of blue jeans as a timeless wardrobe staple encapsulating everything from rock 'n' roll rebellion to utilitarian chic, not to mention their capacity to flatter and shape, the customised trend we're seeing now is every DIY fashionista's dream. Not only are the customising and crafting possibilities endless with patchwork jeans but if things don't go according to plan, it's still a look you can easily carry off. When it comes to this quirky, stand-out look, mess is definitely more!

Thursday, 11 February 2016

Inspiration

After fashion recently took a golden leaf out of the David Bowie book of fabulous footwear with the glitter ankle boot trend, I thought it only right to follow suit with a DIY tribute of my own.

You will need...

Not Pictured

Ankle boots. Don't forget them, they're pretty important.

Difficulty

Quite easy

As long as you're reasonably careful and dexterous with stencils and spray glue, there's no real challenge here - except for keeping your work area clean, expect things to get messy!

Time

1-2 hours.

Get some glamour to boot

Clip a sheet of adhesive paper to the side of a boot and cut it away along the centre back, across the top and along the sole. Draw out a design and cut it out, discarding the bit of adhesive paper inside the design and keepingthe bit outside the design - you need to use this to mask the area where you don't want the craft mount and glitter to go. Don't peel the back of the adhesive paper yet.

Lay the templates of each of your designs flat (and adhesive-side-up), on top of the 'wrong' side of another piece of adhesive paper (adhesive-side-down), trace the design and cut it out as before. Repeat this process for designs you want to copy four times, i.e. those that go along both sides of each boot.

Once you have cut out all your templates peel away the backing, stick them in place, spray the stencilled area with craft mount and sprinkle glitter all over it. Wait briefly for the craft mount to dry and then remove the adhesive paper.

I used face wipes and a dash of white spirit to clean stray glitter off the boots, before applying a thin layer of clear lacquer to hold the glitter in place and keep it from dropping everywhere.

The next step is to decide where to stick the lettering - and make sure it's straight! I did this by placing a magazine (you can also use an A4 sheet of paper) along the top of the ribbing and directly above the hem. I also used a patternmaster to make up the extra distance because I felt that the lettering didn't sit high enough.

Once you're happy with the placing of the letters, keep something in place to mark the line out and stick them down with craft mount.